(Reuters) -The United States is prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to people of Cuba who were affected by Hurricane Melissa, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
The department has issued a declaration for humanitarian assistance for Cuba, as it did for neighboring Caribbean countries, and is prepared to provide immediate aid directly and through local partners, Rubio said in a statement.
"In the wake of Hurricane Melissa’s devastation of eastern Cuba, the Trump Administration
stands with the brave Cuban people who continue to struggle to meet basic needs," he said.
Hurricane Melissa, with winds of 185 mph (298 kph) when it hit land, destroyed homes, washed out roads and uprooted trees before moving on to eastern Cuba. The full extent of the damage is unknown.
A State Department spokesperson said the U.S. government has not received any request for federal assistance from Cuba.
President Donald Trump has taken a hard line on U.S. policy toward the communist-run island, reversing measures put in place by former President Joe Biden. His administration said it would enforce a statutory ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba while supporting an economic embargo of the country.
U.S. law includes exemptions for private donations of food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods to Cuba, as well as disaster response, Rubio said.
"We encourage those seeking to directly support the Cuban people to contact us if there are any issues," he said.
(Reporting by Maiya Keidan and Doina Chiacu; editing by Susan Heavey)
